Control



' W. G. LANDON.

CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1920. I 1,383,825. Patented July 5, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

w. s. LANDON;

CONTROL. APPLICATION FILED MAY 5; 1920.

Patented July '5, 1921.].-

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 MEI INVENTOR W6 Ammo/r WITNESSES mm M \M- ATTORNEYS W. G. LANDON.

- CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1920.

1,383,825, Patented July 5,1921.

INVENTOR WITNESSES W6 Ammo/v W. G. LANDON.

CONTROL. APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, I920 hwmmh s I I I A Ill i IIIIJIII! MN. m

WITNESSES umrso STATES PATENT OFFICE.

wmmm enmnm LANDON, or mew YORK, 11. Y.

' cournon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1921.

Application filed m a, mo.- semi na svaoso.

To all whom it may concern:

It is well understood, in connection withfl ing machines of both the heavier and fighter-than-air type that two systems of control are utilized. These two systems are crash.

commonly called single and dual con-. trols.

The first of these stems, as is apparent from the name, inclu es a single set of controlling levers a plied adJacent the seat .or-

cock-pit in whic the operator of the machine is situated, the second including two separate sets of control levers operatrn a sin le set of ailerons, elevators and rud er.

ThlS latter type is constructed for two reasons, primarily that of teaching the student operator, in which operation the instructor sits in one of the cock-pits of the fuselage, the student in the second, the instructor bringing the machine oif the ground, and then permitting the student operator to operate the controls while in the air.

The second use to which this type of machine is put being that of perm1tting the operation of the controls by either of the occupants of a machine, in the event that the pilot should become incapacitated.

It is now well understood, that an number of fatal accidents have'ocourred 1n both ofthese types of controls due to the .fact that a control couple has often slipped from a guiding pulle causing a jamming of the elevators or ot er controls, resulting in a nil or tail spin inevitably terminating in a In the event of the controls of a lighterthan-air. machine becoming jammed, it is of course possible to control the rising and landing of the machine, by shifting the weight, but it is well'appreciated that this is at best a haphazard solution to the problem, which most often results in a faulty landing, and a consequent destruction of the machine andinjury to the occu ants. v Havin these defects in min I have conceived o a control which is equally applicable to lighter and"heavier-than-air machines, and in this latter class, may be applied with ease to any desired type of plane.

being secured to Reference had to the attached sheet of drawlngs as lllustrating practical embodiments of my invention, and in which drawcontrols which may conveniently be em-. 1n; connectlon with my invention, and

pkiyed igs. 7 and 8 illustrate a slightly modified type of tail, to which my invention may be appl ed, such as for instance, that of the Bntlsh Handley'Page machine.

In these views like reference numerals designate similar parts, and the reference numeral 10- indicates the wings of a plane, 11 the fuselage and 12 the landing gear, all of any desired type.

In the usual manner, ailerons 13 and 14 are associated with the upper and lower wmgs respectively of a machine, but contrary to the conventional construction separate control wires 15 have their ends connected to the ailerons their opposite ends independent Joy sticks 16 and 17 respectively.

G The usual constructlon may also be conveniently departed from, in that the elevators associated with the rear end of the fuselage are each split to form two pairs of flaps each arranged to one side of the rudder. These airs of flaps, as has been illustrated are esignated by the reference numerals 18 and 19, the inner and outer flaps respectively being secured together, if this is desired,'as has been illustrated.

such as for instance the Curtiss' It will also be noted that the control wires 20 and 21 respectively, control the separate pairs of elevator flaps, the wires 21 being conveniently associated with the stick 17, while the wires 20 have their ends preferably fixed to the stick 16 for a purpose hereinafter more fully specified.

. With regard to the rudder, it will be seen that I have conveniently constructed the same in two sections 22, and 23, eachof which by means of wires 24 and 25 are attached to the rudder foot bars 26 and 27 respectively.

Referrilig now more particularly to the Handley age type of tail illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, it will be seen that the elevator flaps 28 and 29 areeach controlled by means of wires and 31, the forward ends of which areattached to the sticks 16 and 11 respectively, so that an independent control for each pair of flaps. is provided.

It will be appreciated that this invention might be illustrated as applied to innumerable types of airplanes, and flying machines, but it is thought that the examples noted in the aforedescribed drawings are of suflicient clearness to illustrate the" construction as applied to certain types of planes.

It will now be understood that it might not prove desirable to provide sufficiently large ailerons, elevator, flaps and rudder portions to permit of the absolute control of a machine by operating one set of these controls while the second set remain inoperative and with this in view l have illustrated a convenient form of coupling whereby the motion of the sticks 16 and 17 may be synchronized.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that this coupling may conveniently take the form of a sliding clutch collar 32 by means of which a-rocking of one stick will result in the rocking ,of the second stick, a link 33 being also conveniently interposed and having the ends attached to each of the sticks 16 and 17 to insure the transmission of motion from one stick to the other in the event that the sticks are rocked longitudinal of the body.

'It will be appreciated that an operator may absolutely control the operation of the machine by coupling any convenient type of hand grip 34 provided with any desirable quick detachable lock 35, to the stick stubs 16 or 17 and o erate the plane from either of the same. ow in the event of one of the set of controls becoming jammed, the

naeeeat hand grip 34: may quickly he slipped upon the op osite stick and the measure of control a orded by the second set of ailerons, elevators and rudders will permit the plane to be righted. This will be true even although one set of controls is operating in opposition to the controls now brought into action, and it will be appreciated that a crash may be averted.

Where the sticks are con led together in the manner indicated in a and 5, it will be understood in the event that a jamming results, that the link and clutch may quickly be uncoupled, and a movement of either of the sticks 16 and 17 will quickly indicate. which set of controls is jammed, it being only necessary to couple the hand grip upon the control moving stick to permit a control of the plane.

This, as will be appreciated is also true of the foot bars 26and 27, which control difierent portions of the rudder by either of which a yawing of the plane may be accomplished.

Obviously as aforestated, my invention may be applied to any number of different types of controls for difierent types of machines without departing from the scope of my claim.

' What ll claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows A control, including in combination with a fuselage, and duplicate sets of controls associated therewith, each set comprising a rudder, elevators and ailerons, of two independent joy-sticks in said fuselage, and

WILLIAM GRINNELL LANDON. 

